


Maxine Caulfield

by DevinTowerwood



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Inspired By Undertale, Max is nonbinary, Nathan and Rachel are both fine, Selfcest, Time Fuckery, inspired by Transistor, involuntary drug use, murdering Jefferson, post-Life in Snippets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 14:30:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14082981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevinTowerwood/pseuds/DevinTowerwood
Summary: In a new timeline without Sean Prescott, Max Caulfield remains in Seattle, doing her best to become acquainted with friends she's never met and handling Victoria's insufferable family. On the night following an art show at the Chase Space, Mark Jefferson takes two bullets to the chest in his hotel room. On the elevator ride down from his room, Max meets the girl from the mirror, another Max from an abandoned timeline. They chat like old friends and share a smoke.Unfortunately, the Other Max isn't here for a friendly chat.





	Maxine Caulfield

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tiger_with_spots](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiger_with_spots/gifts).



> Playlist:
> 
> Transistor Original Soundtrack, “Vanishing Point”  
> Transistor Original Soundtrack, “We All Become”  
> Transistor Original Soundtrack, “Old Friends”  
> Transistor Original Soundtrack, “Paper Boats”

Jefferson was still unconscious and Max was getting impatient. She'd never tried speeding time up before, but she was seriously starting to consider it. Whatever Jefferson had tried to dose her with took forever to wear off - which was probably the point, she supposed. Still, she'd spent the better part of the night sitting on his hotel bed watching cartoons and anime, wishing she'd brought snacks. It was only her third murder and she still hadn't quite gotten used to the prep work.

Once he started to make small movements, trying to open his eyes or shifting in his restraints, Max gagged him with his tie.

Eventually, he was conscious enough to struggle and groan, making it hard to concentrate on the TV. Once he managed to maintain this for a few minutes, Max figured it was time they had a talk. She retrieved her gun from the night stand, cocked it, and leveled it at Jefferson's face.

His eyes focused as well as they could on the barrel so close, a little cross-eyed. He stopped his groaning, instead just breathing heavily into his gag, small amounts of drool accumulating on his chin. There was something about this image that left him so distant from the monster Max remembered that, for a few seconds, she convinced herself this wasn't even the same man.

Then again, he had dosed her drink. Maybe it didn't matter. The world could use one less rapist.

"If you try to scream, call for help - anything - you'll choke on your own blood. Do you understand?"

For a second there was only the sound of his breathing, but then the message made it through, and he nodded vigorously.

"Good."

Max pulled the tie from around his face and tossed it on the bed. She'd expected him to try something stupid - it's not like the chair was a perfect place to tape him up, after all - but he remained as cool as could be expected, only working his jaw up and down a little to adjust.

Max pulled out the desk chair and sat it across from him, sitting down and relaxing, the gun never deviating from his torso. She hated sitting with her ankles neatly crossed, but she wasn't left with a lot of options thanks to the black cocktail dress Victoria had picked out for her last night.

When she said nothing, he figured it was his turn. "Max," he said after a moment of struggling to remember, "what - are you doing? What did-"

"You dosed my scotch and I returned the favor. The duct tape was in your bag," Max said, contempt written all over her face. "You don't really change, do you?"

Jefferson blinked a few times, slowly, concentration clearly a struggle. "How did you-? Why do you have a gun?"

She tilted her head, as if the question were curious to her. "Because I want to talk to you, Mr. Jefferson. Or should I call you Mark?"

"I-"

"But I don't actually want you to talk back." She liked the way he shut up when she tilted the gun up towards his face, even if it wasn't any more dangerous than what she was already doing. Self preservation was so predictable when you were just a person. "Sorry, should have clarified that."

Jefferson wet his lips and took a deep breath, but said nothing.

"Perfect," Max smiled in response. "You're learning."

She said, "I just thought, before things go any further, you should know why this is happening to you."

After a pause, he replied, "Okay," just above a whisper.

Max nodded, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "Where to begin . . . where to begin."

"Hm. Okay, I know. I'll tell you a story. Once there was a famous fashion photographer named Mark Jefferson who liked taking pictures in black and white. His style was known all over the art world for capturing the dynamics of power - between state and citizen, between military and civilian, between men and women, between light and dark. But there was another element to his style that, for some reason, nobody talked about. Mark Jefferson loved to make himself a part of his photos. Not including himself in the frame, no, no," Max laughed, bitterness creeping into her voice. She shook her head. "No, of course not, then he'd be just like some millenial tween taking a selfie, and he'd despise that."

"Mark Jefferson liked to watch innocence die. And there was nothing he found so innocent or so beautiful as young girls at the edge of adulthood, blossoming despite the cynicism of the world. He was so proud of that, too, of his eye to find these girls, these special girls . . ." Max sighed, a far-off look in her eye.

Mark took the break in the monologue to start, "Now, Max, I don't know where you're getting any of this absurd fantasy, but I can promise you I'm no . . . pedophile," he grimaced with genuine disgust at the word, "if that's what you think I am. I'm just a photographer. And you're eighteen and-"

Max held a finger up to her lips and gave a 'Shh.' He quickly trailed off, and Max laughed in delight.

"You're right! I forgot that that was so important to you. 'I'm not a  _ pedophile _ . I'm not a  _ rapist _ . I'm an  _ artist _ .'" This was clearly hilarious to her, but his face only grew more anxious.

When she recovered, Max continued, "You're right, I'm so sorry. You like to drug them, watch them wake up slowly so you can see the light, that beautiful innocence, die in their eyes, suck it away like some sort of vampire and then spit them back out. You'd destroy a girl, but you wouldn't like, fuck them." Max pondered that for a second. "Well, except when you do. You're kind of all-around nasty."

There was a long break while Mark looked her over carefully, as if he couldn't believe this was the same giggling, moronic girl he'd brought back to his room the night before. The stuttering admiration and heavy makeup had all been washed away and he couldn't seem to believe his eyes. Was it because she knew? Or was it because he'd never thought her, in particular, capable of this?

His voice lost its gentleness, becoming flat and rough. "You know the website, I take it?"

Max had never had the edge to actually take a look at it until last night, when she was trying to fill the hours until he woke up. It was horrifying, somehow worse than the morning she'd found the bunker underneath the Prescott barn despite the fact that she didn't recognize any of the girls from the photographs. There were just so many. So many beautiful, innocent young girls who'd probably had careers, bright futures, trusting relationships snatched away in the blink of a camera. It's not that she knew the psychological weight of it, really - she hadn't stuck around long enough to ask Kate what it had been like - but she still remembered the poison that filled her body and her heart when she was dosed the first time, and she couldn't imagine the hours underneath his lens that these girls had had to endure.

Max pushed out a small smile to keep her confidence. "I've taken a look, yeah."

His eyes narrowed, then relaxed - his whole face relaxed and his tone softened again. "Then what do you want? Is this all some game for millions in blackmail that I don't have?"

Max's smile was real this time. "Oh, nah." She stood up from the chair, just so she could look down at him. "I just wanted to watch the light die from your eyes."

He registered her meaning as she raised the gun at his chest. "Now, Max-"

He was never able to finish his sentence thanks to two bullets embedding themselves somewhere inside his rib cage. Blood welled up in his mouth as his lungs filled, drowning the already-dead man.

 

"Hold the elevator, please."

A hand shot out of the elevator to keep it open, and Max slipped inside quickly, hitting Lobby and then darting to the opposite corner. She pulled herself up on the hand railing, doing her best not to look at the other passenger in the elevator.

"It wouldn't kill you to say 'hello.'"

A shiver ran up Max's spine as she heard the voice, and she looked up. At first, the face she saw looked just like any other stranger - a medium-height brunette with shoulder-length hair, a plaid shirt that immediately pinged Max's gaydar tied around their waist. But she had an eye for images, and it only took her a second to recognize them as familiar, if flipped from how she normally saw them.

It was her. Herself. Max. Except not behind the mirror anymore .

"Max?" The word had no volume behind it, but they seemed to get it anyway, and their face split into a grin.

"Surprised to see me?" the other Max asked, but Max had already flung herself across the elevator, and they pulled her into a tight hug. The other Max was taller, and, she realized, older than she remembered. Time had not passed for them equally. Apparently, Max still had some growing to do.

"God, Max. I haven't seen you since the Lighthouse." Max held on a bit longer, then took a step back, looking them over again. Now that she had a chance to look, everything about this Max seemed a little aged up, clearly on the other side of twenty. "That was . . . months ago. But it looks like it's been longer for you."

"Hah, yeah," they said, lifting their hand up and rotating it slowly, as if they could see the age on it. "A little bit. Plus, I go by Maxine now."

Max swiped her eyebrow to show her relief. "Whew. I go exclusively by 'Max' now so that works out. You would not believe how confusing it is trying to explain running into you."

Maxine quirked their eyebrows. "No kidding, sheesh."

The elevator reached the lobby and the doors slid open. Max hadn't realized that Maxine hadn't chosen a floor, they'd just arrived on the floor Max was on. Which was . . . pretty weird.

As they left the elevator, Max asked, "So what are you doing here?"

They both seemed to be making their way towards the lobby doors, which further confused Max, even if it was convenient.

Maxine shrugged, gesturing at the revolving door. "Why don't we take a walk and we can catch up some? Do you smoke?"

Max sighed in relief. "Oh thank god. This dress didn't have anywhere to put them and I've been in it all night. Please tell me you have-"

Maxine held up a white lighter before Max could even finish the question, and smirked. Then they fished in their jeans pockets until they found their cigarettes, offering one to Max first before sticking one in their mouth as they left the hotel.

"Good choice on the dress, by the way," Maxine said as they gave Max a once-over. "You look hot."

Max gave them a playful shove, but it only made them laugh. They paused just outside the hotel to light their cigarettes, then turned left and just started walking.

Max was a little pink and didn't want to think about how weird that was. "Thanks," she finally replied. "Victoria picked it out for me."

Maxine quirked their eyebrows in surprise again, but said nothing for the time.

After the awkwardness was given a little time to fade, Maxine suddenly said, "So, you got Mark. Nice."

Max found a way to choke on her smoke despite the fact that this body had apparently been smoking for years. Maxine shot her a look of amusement but didn't add anything more until she was done.

Then Max half-yelled, "What the fuck?!"

Maxine laughed, then replied, "What? I was on my way to do it myself - I didn't expect to find you needing an escape elevator."

Max considered shock or confusion. But, honestly, somewhere amidst the whole ascending to godhood or whatever she had kind of gotten over the peculiarities of time travel and interdimensional overlap. This stuff happens. You just kind of have to roll with it.

So she just rolled her eyes and groaned. "God. You should have shown up hours ago so I'd have something to do."

"Wow, in front of Mark?" Maxine took a drag from her cigarette, exhaling into the air above them. "That's a bold move."

Now Max was just flustered. Why in the world were they hitting on themself? Why was she into it? And on a scale of one to ten how badly did she need to kink shame her alter ego?

"So," Max said, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know. I had some time to kill."

They both snickered.

A little further down the sidewalk, Maxine spotted a Starbucks. "Come on," they said, tapping Max on the small of her back and nodding towards it. "I'll buy you a coffee and we can catch up."

 

They both had similar taste in coffee, except somehow Maxine had an even greater love of sugar and Max was left in awe of their power. Max had been anticipating creeping into her room in these early hours, unable to sleep from the images of Mark's body. But she wasn't slinking about, and even the thought of Mark's death didn't induce any guilt. Killing Sean had been so much harder, and she wasn't even the person who pulled the trigger that time.

"I like your necklace," Max said, tilting her coffee at Maxine. "Three bullets? What's up with that?"

"Oh, this?" Maxine lifted it up between them. The bullet casings were smooth and bright, pretty even - but the style just seemed so  _ not her _ .

Maxine laughed and said, "Yeah, Chloe gave this to me after I saved her ass a few times. She thought it was three and it was all symbolic and shit, but it was more like . . ." they paused, looking up at the ceiling to count.

They mouthed the numbers as they counted, which Max had never realized was so adorable until just now. She had always been afraid that mean kids from middle school were right and all her little quirks were just spazzy. But, no, Victoria was right. Max(ine) was cute as a button.

Just as Max was beginning to lose herself to focusing on Maxine's tiniest movements, Maxine finished and said, "Nine, I guess. I mean she only actually died four times, but after a while I found it best to stop telling her. I think it made her a little depressed."

That sobered up the mood real quick. Max's coffee was still a little bit bitter, and she wondered if she should have added more sugar.

Something finally clicked. "So," Max said as she put her coffee back down on the table, "you're not the Max I met before. She gave up her powers - and Chloe. You didn't." The realization that Max had encountered the third duplicate of herself left her uneasy. Every time she met another one, she became increasingly nervous that the scene Sean had shown her was true - that hopping across timelines left a Max behind to clean up her mess. She had turned time back as little as she possibly could just in case, but she still wanted to believe that she had nothing to do with the fact that there were so many other Maxes running around.

Maxine shrugged and gave a sad smile. "Yeah, sorry. You just seemed excited and I wasn't sure how to . . . tell you."

"It's okay."

It didn't really feel okay, to be honest, but that wasn't Maxine's fault. The Max behind the mirror was gone for good. It was just depressing to hold onto hope that they'd see each other again.

Maxine cleared their throat. "So, tell me about your world! How'd you end up knowing Jefferson _ and _ staying in Seattle?"

"Hmm." How to tell the story?

Occasionally people would glance over at them, as suspicious as the barista who had taken their order had been. The two of them were clearly identical except for the age gap, even if their clothes and hair were completely different. Maybe if Max was still wearing her makeup they would just pass as strangely similar sisters, but without it they even had the same freckles, and people noticed. Still, no one comes to the conclusion hat time travel is involved. How could they?

"So. Short version? I transfered to Blackwell, joined the Vortex Club, dated Victoria, met Chloe again, Victoria got super powers, Frank got super powers, we found a secret bunker underneath the Prescott's barn, Victoria figured out it was Jefferson's, Kate took a call from Sean, Rachel possessed me for a bit, then Nathan killed his dad."

Maxine was having a total face journey as Max rattled off the year's past events - but that was just September and October, after all.

"Then I realized I could control time, re-did the week, learned everything I could about Sean and Jefferson, sent Frank way back in time, ended up in this timeline. Victoria and I are still dating, but we're here. Nathan isn't kidnapping or murdering everyone and is like, a prodigy I guess. Plus Rachel visits us sometimes and I think she has a thing for Nathan. Or me. Or both. I can't really tell - she's got powers and it makes everything complicated." Max sipped her coffee again, trying to remember any other good details. "Oh, and Kate and Chloe have like, a thing. Like they fight crime or something. I don't really get it but apparently Arcadia Bay  _ really _ sucks now."

"Hm." Maxine drummed their fingers on the table for a second as they mulled that all over. Finally, they said, "So, Victoria's your girlfriend? And she picks out your clothes?"

Max stuck out her tongue at Maxine's mocking tone. "Only the nice ones," she replied.

Maxine's face told her that didn't make things better. Max huffed. They both took sips of their coffee.

"But, yeah. Victoria's my girlfriend. But things are kind of . . . weird now."

Maxine was leaning against their hand lazily now. "How so?"

Max shrugged. "I dunno," she lied. Then, realizing there was basically nothing to lose in explaining, she said, "Well, okay, so. There was an intermediate timeline between this one and when Victoria and I started dating. And in that timeline, I was a really bad partner, basically, and she kind of fell for somebody else. It kind of . . . well, it sucked. She should have just broken up with me. I still don't get why she didn't."

God. Now it was all just rushing out. It was nice to be honest with someone, but it just felt like garbage. "I'm . . . still not a very good partner. I miss the old her too much, I think."

Taking a breath and swallowing after saying that felt like taking a golf ball-sized pill. It had been her choice to let the old Victoria go for Chloe's sake. And she'd been only too eager to erase the Victoria who fell out of love with her. Max had chosen Victoria's interests second to her own in the most total way there was. And, given the choice, she would do it all again.

She wanted to love Victoria, but it was going to take time. And maybe she wasn't owed that.

Maxine nodded somberly. "Yeah I . . . get that, dude. I'm sorry."

There was a brief pause, and then Maxine asked, "Out of curiosity, who did Vic fall for? I wouldn't have expected that."

"Kate Marsh."

Maxine just blinked, dumbfounded. Their lips curled down in disgust. "Well that's . . . repulsive. Yikes."

Max frowned. "Your Victoria was just a bitch, I take it?"

"You could say that," Maxine sneered. Once Max gave them an expectant glance, then continued, "In my first timeline, Vic and her friends basically baited Kate into suicide. And then she died, and Victoria . . ." Maxine's eyes started to stare past her, somewhere in the past. "Well, she told me to get over it. And I broke my hand on her face." Maxine shrugged, then added casually, "I mean, I would have undid it, except it was my rewind hand so . . . she got stuck with a bruise and I got stuck with two broken fingers."

Max nodded slowly once the story was concluded. "Yeah I . . . I heard about that. Kate's suicide, I mean. I'm sorry." _ Beat. _ "Were the two of you friends?"

The way Maxine chuckled only left Max feeling more ill at ease. "Yeah," they said, "we were close."

Max could sense there was more to the story, but though it must have been years ago for them, it didn't seem right to press Maxine for details. And, honestly, Max could do without further confirmation that Victoria might, at heart, just be a horrible person - or so literally everyone from different timelines told her.

Max reached over the table and placed her hand over Maxine's. "I'm sorry," she said. "It seems like you've been through a lot."

Maxine only nodded, the same distant look in their eye.

Max said, "My Kate was invulnerable, actually. That was her power. She took down Jefferson and saved me and Victoria all by herself."

That actually brought shock, then a smile to Maxine's face. "No shit?" The smile turned into a grin. "She's a tough fucking kid. I've seen plenty of timelines where things are better, but my first . . . well, it sticks with me." Maxine turned their hand around slowly, taking Max's hand and stroking the back side of it with her thumb. It was extremely affectionate - but, for some reason, that didn't bother Max much. She found herself easy to trust.

Maxine added, "It seems like it's the same for you, too, huh? The first is always more . . ." they pinched their face as they thought.

"Real?" Max offered.

Maxine nodded. "Yeah."

They were both about done with their coffee and the hand-holding was going on long enough that it was getting a little weird, especially over the table, but Max didn't feel much like pulling away. It wasn't exactly often that she got to experience intimacy with someone who could understand her. Maybe it was better to just wait in the moment, pretend that time was standing still (even if she wasn't making it right now).

And then the moment was over, Max's fingers dragging along the table after slipping from Maxine's touch.

Maxine brushed some of their hair behind her ear before folding their hands in their lap. Their expression was bashful, not making eye contact - much more like the Max behind the mirror had been.

"I'm going to the bathroom real quick," they said, and got up.

 

Max had finished her coffee by the time Maxine got back out, and the two of them decided it was best to get far away from Jefferson’s body. Fortunately, buses are frequent in Seattle, and there was a bus stop next to the hotel they’d come from. They’d prefer not to go back there at all, but sometimes you have to go back to get where you want to go.

At the bus stop, Max had an idea. “Oh hey,” she said, “do you have your phone on you? I could show you what Kate and Chloe are up to.”

Maxine tilted their head curiously, but reached into their pocket without further questions. Once they handed Max their phone, she made her way to Youtube and tried to recall what the video had been called.

After a minute, she found it, and tilted the screen so they could both take a look. Maxine leaned over, using their body to shade the screen. The video was very dark and low-quality, and at first it was difficult to make anything out, but once the picture sharpened, they could see a park at night, two girls in the distance, and a large silhouette only visible because of how it disrupted the trees in the background.

_ “I don’t know what the fuck is going on,” the person holding the camera said. “There’s these girls, and this big . . . I don’t know what the - OH SHIT.” The narrator cried out as the monstrous silhouette swiped. It didn’t look like it had a body that could possibly make contact with flesh, but one of the girls was lifted from her feet and landed much closer to the camera. She did not move as the narrator said, “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” over and over. _

_ “KATE!” the other girl yelled. _

_ Unfortunately, the camera suddenly fell back as the narrator retreated and tripped, the ‘oh fuck’s continuing all the while. _

“Is that . . . Chloe?” Maxine asked, turning towards Max.

Max just held a finger to her mouth to ‘sh’, and indicated back at the video.

_ The video just shook as the narrator tried to get back to their feet, but suddenly froze as a horrible shrieking overwhelmed the audio. After a second, they gave up and sat still on the grass, holding the shaky phone camera up to catch what was happening. _

_ A circle of flame had emerged around the shadow, and now its form was much clearer. It looked like the upper body of a wolf-like creature, with long hands and a muzzle. Its mouth was open as screamed, and inside its mouth was a bright fire. It was wrong, unnatural, impossible, belonging to the world of bad Hollywood films and an increasing number of derivative HBO shows. And it was sinking into the Earth like cartoon quicksand, the flames revealing the tall girl standing just out of reach of the monster’s flailing claws. _

“Does Chloe have a sword?” Maxine asked.

Max grinned but said nothing. The best part was coming up.

_ The narrator was sputtering nonsense mostly in the form of ‘fuck’ attached to a few other choice phrases, but was staying still enough to get both girls in the frame. Just as the monster’s hands were disappearing inside the ring of fire, the girl on the ground shuttered, prompting another startled yelp from behind the camera. A second later, the girl slowly picked herself up and dusted herself off, just in time to watch the creature disappear entirely from view, and the ring of fire to vanish after it. _

_ Once the girl was on her feet, she turned, looking back at the camera, and then the person behind it. _

_ “Justin?” she asked, then groaned. It was definitely Kate Marsh - most other people wouldn’t wear clean-pressed clothes to a fight in the park, after all - and there were spots in her clothes that made it look like she was bleeding. She didn’t seem to notice, or at the very least, care. _

_ “Justin, get out of here.” _

_ There was a second of scrambling, and then the video cut. _

“Kate is so good,” Max said, a hand covering her mouth to hide her continuing smile. She looked up at Maxine, who was just smirking at her. “And maybe immortal, I guess?”

Maxine laughed but was also clearly uncomfortable. “I guess. And there are, like . . . demons in this timeline?”

“Ha. Yeah.” Max handed Maxine their phone back, as proud as they were disturbed. “I’ve actually kind of been trying not to think about that part. But Kate looks like she’s doing okay.”

Maxine’s expression softened. “You’re right. Even if she won’t stop getting herself into trouble.” 

Maxine paused for a second, glancing around on the sidewalk. Then she started, “Max, I-”

“Oh, our bus is here.” 

Max pointed behind Maxine, but Maxine didn’t bother to look. They only sighed, and then tried again; “Max, it’s actually just your bus. I’ve got to go.”

“What?” Max surprised herself with how crestfallen she sounded, and did her best to edit her voice calmer in follow-up. “Why is that?”

Maxine talked quickly as the bus rapidly approached. “Well, I mean, I’ve got something I’ve got to do, and Jefferson was really just kind of a point on the to-do list, and - and, shit.” 

Maxine suddenly held her hands up in a way that made Max flinch. It took her a second to realize that the world had fallen quiet, and the bus had stopped moving towards them.

“Whoah,” Max whispered. The longer she looked, the more the world looked wrong, with unmoving birds in the sky and flags still in the process of flapping in the breeze. She had never tried to freeze time in such a public place, and even the sound of her breath now was audible on some busy street in Seattle. It was beautiful and terrifying, a world gone dead but perfectly preserved. It was a painting of the present that should have been her past.

Maxine was not so caught up in it, though. “Max?” they asked, pulling her into the present that really was her present. 

“Hm?”

Maxine reached out and took Max’s hand, and Max finally stopped looking at the world around her.

“Look, Max. I’ve got to go. But I wanted to say thank you first. It’s been . . . it’s been hard, being alone for so long. It was nice to meet someone who could understand what it’s like being me. And I don’t want to say ‘bye’ just yet.”

“I don’t really see why you have to,” Max replied in frustration. She didn’t feel like losing another person so quickly. “But . . . yeah. I feel the same way.” Max squeezed Maxine’s hand, looking up into their eyes as if there she would find the reason they had to leave. “It was nice.”

Maxine clearly hesitated on something for a moment, but Max waited for them to figure it out. When they finally got the words out, though - “Can I kiss you?” it took Max a few seconds to process their meaning.

“Oh-oh. Um.” She hadn’t really thought of their flirting as having any underlying possibility to it. The connection she felt to her other selves was just natural, automatic. But this didn’t really feel like either.

Still, here they were out of time, and Maxine was beautiful, and whatever this connection was, it was transient. Soon, Maxine wouldn’t even exist - not here, at least.

Max nodded. “Mhm.”

Maxine continued to hesitate for a moment, but then took a step forward. They placed their hand tentatively on Max’s cheek, and Max reached out to grab their hips and pull them closer, to let them know it was okay.

And then they kissed. When it continued past the first kiss, Max ran her fingers up Maxine’s side, tracing lines over their shoulder blade, holding them close. When the kiss finally broke, her fingers trailed down Maxine’s arm, briefly catching their wrist, then their fingers. When her fingers caught on some metal on Maxine’s wrist, it brought her attention from their face down to their hand.

It took her a second to recognize it, but she did. “Hey, isn’t that Victoria’s bracelet?” she asked.

When she saw Maxine’s hand reaching up for her neck, she thought they were bringing her in for another kiss. At least, until the metal sting appeared in her neck, and she realized too late what had happened.

Max flinched back and held a hand up to her neck, but she knew it didn’t take long to push the plunger in a syringe like that. The syringe caught her eye quickly now that she knew what she was looking for, and it was familiar down to the size and brand, just sitting in Maxine’s other hand. When had it gotten there?

Max reached up to rewind, but it was like she was hit by a wave - reality flashed for a second and pain split her forehead, but time did not move.

“You can’t be . . . serious.” GHB worked so quickly in its injected form . She was already having trouble talking.

“I’m sorry Max. I really am.” Maxine took a step forward, offering out her hand in a way Max simply could not understand.

“Get - get away from me.”

“I just don’t want you to hit your head.”

Max was stumbling, and her vision was useless even if it was working. She reached out to pull time back again, but again the same blinding flash erupted in her eyes. When it faded, she found herself on her knees, breathing heavily but not enough.

Maxine dropped down into a crouch in front of Max, not trying to touch her, knowing they had to do nothing at this point.

“I really was nice to meet you, Max. I’m sorry about this.”

Max tried to work up the coherence to say ‘fuck you’ or something with the same level of venom, but before she could form the words, she lost consciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> This fan fiction comes out of my deep love for recent video games that feature rewinding as a key part of storytelling, especially those with an emphasis on recursion of the whole story: Transistor, Oxenfree, and Undertale.
> 
> The Maxine we see here in this story is actually based on a piece of fan art I saw by Tumblr user zai-fanart (zairyo on DeviantArt) featuring a "Super Max" who wore Chloe's necklace and bracelets and Rachel's shirt. I've been keeping this character in my back pocket for years now, trying to figure out what story to tell with them . . . and then, well, hey, I saw someone play Undertale's genocide run, and I got an idea.
> 
> Lastly, the video of Kate and Chloe is meant to be a nod at _Something Wicked_ , my magical girl / witch AU featuring Taylor, Dana, Victoria, and Rachel as the leads.
> 
> Let me know what you think! Thank you for reading.


End file.
